Work-life balance

European Social Partners revise the Parental Leave agreement

According to this new agreement, that revises the text of 1995 and that is to be implemented by a Council Directive, parental leave will be increased from three to four months for each parent and will apply to all employees regardless of the type of contract (fixed-term, part-time, temporary work…). In order to prevent the common practice of transferring the parental leave period from the father to the mother, parental leave is defined as an individual right, so it is, in principle, non-transferable from one parent to the other. Member states are allowed to make it transferable but at least one of the four months shall be provided on a non-transferable basis.

Members States still have to negotiate the measures to be taken in areas such as, notice periods to inform of the leave, childcare or flexible working arrangements. Member States and social partners shall also take the necessary measures to ensure that workers may request changes to their working hours and patterns for a set period of time, when returning to work.

Nevertheless, the agreement doesn’t give a clear reference as regards the income, subject which will be discussed at national level.

Parents having adopted a child could also benefit from the agreement.

 <<< BACK